Shredded BBQ Sweet Potato Sandwhiches

BBQ sandwich, a classic summer and Labor Day meal! My sister told me about a recent sandwich she had that was made out of sweet potato instead of meat and I got very very excited!

This is super easy to pull together, perfect for a crowd or to make ahead for lunches, and is a healthy alternative with possibly better texture and flavor...and by possible, I mean it does.

To begin, we start by prepping the coleslaw. This is a dairy-free version that adds a great crunch and bite to the plate! Start by heating up a sauce pan over medium-low heat with some olive oil. Add in the garlic and stir for 1 minute cook the garlic. Add in the lime zest, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, honey (or maple syrup if your vegan), salt, pepper, onion powder, mustard powder. Stir to combine and let cook for 3 minutes for honey to melt, vinegar to cook down a bit, and for flavors to blend. Whisk in the coconut milk and remove the sauce pan from the heat. The coconut milk is not a lot but adds a little coolness to balance the acidity in the sauce.

While the vinegar sauce is cooling, shred your green cabbage and grate your carrot. Toss in a bowl and pour the cooled vinegar sauce over the top. Add in your fresh parsley and stir to evenly coat and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

When you are wanting to eat, shred your large sweet potatoes. I left the skin on but feel free to remove if you want. We want to remove some extra moisture from the sweet potato, so once grated, lay it out and cover with paper towel.

While the sweet potato is covered, we will grill out onion. I love grilling the onion for this recipe to get a hint of that smokey flavor that is so ingrained in classic BBQ. However, if you are not wanting to due to time or you simply don’t have a grill, feel free to use a grill pan or saute until translucent, 10ish minutes.

If you are using a grill, heat the grill to a high heat. Cut the onion into slices. The recipes says 1/2 and onion to 1 whole onion because it really depends on your love for onion! Whatever your preference, toss the onion in a little olive oil and grill for 10 minutes until they are translucent and have some great grill marks, stirring occasionally but letting mostly rest to get those char grill lines. Remove once cooked and dice the onion up.

Toss the onion and sweet potato together and set aside. Heat a sauce pan of your favorite BBQ sauce up over medium heat. I used Annies and highly recommend it, its delicious and lower in sugar than many other brands! Add the sweet potato and onion mixture to the sauce pan and cook in the sauce for 5-10 minutes, or until everything is warmed through. You do not want to overly cook the sweet potato because you still want a bit of bite/texture. Remove from the heat and pile on top of your favorite bun or by itself. Top with the coleslaw and pickled jalapenos!

This will become your new favorite go-to meal, its so easy and sooo delicious!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

2 Large Sweet Potatoes

1 Onion

1 tbs Olive Oil

2-3 cups Barbeque Sauce

Coleslaw:

1 tbs Olive Oil

2 Cloves of Garlic

Juice and Zest of 1 Lime

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbs Light Coconut Milk

1 tsp Honey or Maple Syrup

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Mustard Powder

2 tbs Fresh Parsley

3 cups Shredded Green Cabbage

1 Carrot

STEP BY STEP

In a sauce pan over medium-low heat, add in 1 tbs of olive oil with the 2 minced garlic cloves. Cook for 1 minutes and add in the lime zest, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, honey/maple syrup, salt, pepper, onion powder, mustard powder. Stir to mix and cook for 3 minutes to burn edge of the vinegar and melt the sweetener. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in coconut milk, set aside to cool.

Shred your cabbage and peel/grate your carrot. Add them to a bowl with the fresh chopped parsley. Add the vinegar mixture over the top, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours for flavors to blend and cabbage/carrot to soften.

While the coleslaw is sitting, grate your sweet potatoes with or without the skin, your preference. Once grated, either use a cheese cloth to squeeze out moisture or lay out the sweet potato on paper towel.

Heat a grill to high heat and slice your onion. If you don't have a grill, heat a pan over high heat. Either way, we want to cook the onion 10 minutes or until translucent and some char has formed. Remove from heat and dice up the cooked onion.

Add the diced onion to a bowl with the shredded sweet potato. Add in your favorite BBQ sauce, I used Annie's and loved it because it hasless sugar than others. I give a range because its preference to how saucey you want it. Stir it all together and place in a sauce pan over medium heat to warm through, 10 minutes.

On your favorite rolls or bread, lay the sweet potato on the bottom. Top off with the coleslaw and pickled jalapenos if you like spice!